OU-OCCC Collaborative

I just finished the first year of this program and all I can say is run. Do another program, seriously. Everyone in this program hates it. You are treated as OCCC students and if you drop or fail a class your progression is delayed a year. And I mean a year of doing NOTHING until the class is offered at OCCC the following year. The classes are poorly taught and out of 20 students, I believe 7 or 8 have been delayed a year. It is a waste of money and time. Petitions and complaints were made to OU all semester and they don't bother with changing anything anyway, and they treat you like your not really an OU student and almost all of us did our pre-requ. at OU!!!

Cha-Cha

I had heard some negative feedback after being accepted, but I had no idea it was that bad. I was wondering, after your first year of nursing school at OU-OCCC, are you able to take the exam to become a licensed nurse LPN? I had heard this but was wondering if it were true. Thanks!!

Also, it is really that hard to make A's in the OU-OCCC program even if you study quite a bit? I am planning to move on to professional school and so grades are crucial. So also what was the course load, schedule, instructors, and grading system like? Just wondering a little more detail about what to expect!

I also just got accepted in this program, so we'll be in same class. Just wondering about all same things. I am pre-med and my grades are very important to me. I hope theses classes are not as hard as people here say. Of course i have been subjected to a lot with my Biochemistry degree which i have just finished, this physical chemistry is a killer...still wondering about how hard these nursing classes are though.

If the OU-OCCC CBSN is anything like the OU-TCC CBSN is, I agree. We began with 21 students and now have 12. Ditto to everything that was said about not being treated fairly and having to fight for you grades. I made my first B's this year, and both of them were somewhere in the 92.9-92.98 range. Believe me, graduate school is very important to me as well and I feared for my GPA (that sounds very shallow and selfish, but it was a concern of mine, secondary to learning everything I possibly could about being a competent nurse). Anyway, I feel that most of the "learning" that happens is because you're teaching yourself, but the pro of this situation is that it does teach you a great degree of self-sufficiency. Unfortunately this is something I'm hearing repeated from the OU collaborative and distant sites. No changes were made for us but hopefully for those next year there will be something better. Just be prepared to fight for your rationale, your grade, and, well, for yourself. Best of luck and congrats on beginning the journey!

What about testing to be an LPN after the first year? Can you do that? I had heard from a few people that they thought you could test after completing your junior year of classes. I was just wondering if this was true. I would like to begin working as a nurse for summer break next year.

I am sure we'll be able to be LPN after one year I have worked in the hospital for years and i have seen a lot of people do it. This is what i plan to do as well.

Best check with the BON and/or school and check that it is OK to sit NCLEX PN after a certain period of time. Not all meet requirements to do so

I talked to OCCC yesterday and they said to sit through LPN exam you have to have nursing process 3 and it's third semester for our collaborative program, so there is our answer, we wouldn't be able to do it

Can you tell me what the hours were for you in the first year? I saw in OCCC schedule book that classes are only on monday and tuesday 8-12 and 8am-2pm how do those labs look and the clinicals? did you have to spend lots of hours? Just trying to plan my schedule and can't get any answers from nursing school. Have a little baby which i need to know what to do with ahead of time.

Hi everyone! I was in the first year they did the OU-OCCC collaborative program. So you can imagine, that was probably the toughest year. Just so you know, once we transferred to the Health Sciences Center, things did feel better. I graduated in May and just go into graduate school. So, it is possible to go to grad school right after nursing school, and going to OCCC will not hinder you. You CAN, I repeat CAN sit for your LPN boards, but there is no need to because you can be hired as a nurse extern or a tech after your first 1-2 semesters.

I will tell you that being in the collaborative program does make you feel as though you are separate from the other students for the first year, however you bond with the other students in your class. And once you transfer to the OU campus, you will feel as though you have been there the whole time. It is not just OCCC that makes the students wait a whole year to retake a class..... that is OU in general. That is one of my biggest problems with the nursing program in general.

The best advise I have is to talk to students at the OU campus when you get a chance. They may have study materials passed down from previous students.... and it does help. You will get through it, and you will do great. Best of luck!!!!

Yelena,

I think that they will hand us out a master schedule for fall 2009 at our mandatory meeting on July 27. If you need the schedule sooner I guess you could always contact the director or go to OCCC and speak to someone in the OU-OCCC office about obtaining a copy. If copies are available early will you let me know? I might also check into this.